Monday, January 8th - Professional Development Day for Teachers (no classes)

Tuesday, January 9th - School Resumes

Student TeacherExciting news in 5th grade! We’re getting a student teacher for the next six weeks! His name is François Chiasson and he is joining us from Quebec. He starts on Monday, and the 5th graders are quite excited to meet him!Field TripThank you all for your flexibility and understanding with the change in our field trip date. We’re set to visit the Brave Soles workshop next Thursday, November 2nd. The timing will be the same - leave ISS at 8:15 and return by 2:30. Because of the date change, I will be sending home new permission slips to be signed on Monday. As before, students should wear their white ISS polo shirt and comfortable shoes. They should bring water, snacks, and a lunch (those that normally eat lunch at school will have a bag lunch packed for them). No electronics, please.MathWe are wrapping up our study of division with two-digit divisors. This is a complicated topic, and some students may want to stay after for reinforcements for additional review and to retake their assessment. It takes practice, but I’m really proud of how much the 5th graders have improved! Next week, we will be studying how to evaluate expressions using the order of operations.ELAWe’re busy writing narrative stories, and the students have enjoyed listening to various mentor texts in order to hear how good writers introduce their stories, use transition words, write descriptively, and conclude their stories. The final product is due Friday. We are working on the stories in class, but some students may want additional time to work, so next week’s ELA homework will be to work on their narrative and submit the final copy Friday.ScienceAs we start quarter 2, we begin our study of life science. We will be investigating how plants get the materials they need from air and water, and then moving on to explore the way energy is transferred and shared through the food chain.

Monday, November 6th - School Holiday - no classesStudent Blogger: ZoeThis week in 5 grade was magnificent! One thing we did was working on our social studies project (picking a place in the world and studying about its culture), which was AWESOME!!! We also worked on our math dividing whole numbers with 2 digit divisors. One thing that was the highlight of this week was getting to learn different methods of how to do long division. Here in 5 grade we love to learn and have fun!Field TripNext Thursday, October 26 is our field trip to the Brave Soles workshop in Puerto Plata. We will be leaving from ISS at 8:15 and returning to school by 2:30. Although it is pajama day for Spirit Week (more details below), students are asked to wear their white ISS polo for the trip. We will make up pajama day on another day to be determined in the future. Students are also asked to bring a water bottle and snacks. If they normally eat a school lunch, they will have a bag lunch prepared for them that day. If they normally bring their lunch, they should bring a lunch with them on the field trip. They are asked not to bring electronics.Spirit WeekPlease see the flyer below for information about spirit week. Please note that because we will be on a field trip Thursday, October 26th, students will be wearing the white ISS polo shirt, not pajamas. We will make up pajama day as a class on another date to be determined

From the office - Fun Fair ticketsPSG will be selling tickets before and after school Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday next week. Tickets are four for 100 pesos. Tickets will not be sold individually, only in groups of four. If you prepay for your tickets on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, your child’s tickets will be put in a bag and given to their teacher on Friday morning. However, tickets will also be sold on the day of the Fun Fair. Fun Fair is from 3-4 PM. We will begin the Fun Fair with a parade of costumes that will start at the teachers' parking lot and wind along the path to the cover court.The Haunted House will be open to all elementary students at 3 PM, as well as many games under the covered court. Popcorn, cotton candy, drinks and hot dogs will also be available. Entrance to the Haunted House and all games will cost one ticket. Make your own slime, cotton candy, drinks and popcorn costs two tickets and hot dogs cost three tickets. Come join us for a fun afternoon.From the office - Message about costumes October 27thOn Friday, October 27th, Student Council is sponsoring Costume day. Elementary students will have the opportunity to wear costumes to school all day with a 25 pesos donation. If students do not want to wear their costume all day, but wish to change at the end of the day to participate in the whole school parade and Fun Fair, they should wear their uniform during the day and bring their costume to change into. If children elect to wear their costume during the day, we ask that the "accessories" be kept in their backpacks for use only in the afternoon at the parade and Fun Fair. Accessories include such items as fake teeth, masks of any kind, gloves, etc... We want to minimize the distraction from learning throughout the day. Additionally, we would ask parents to make sure that if any kind of weapon is part of your child's costume that you save that for any out-of-school trick or treat activities and not allow your child to bring it to school. If you have any questions, please feel free to check in with your child's teacher or Ms. Lantz in the office.El viernes 27 de octubre, el Consejo Estudiantil patrocina el día del vestuario. Los estudiantes de primaria tendrán la oportunidad de usar sus trajes en la escuela todo el dia con una donación de 25 pesos. Si los estudiantes no quieren usar su disfraz todo el día, pero desean cambiarse al final del día para participar en todo el desfile escolar y la Feria de Diversión, deben usar su uniforme durante el día y traer su disfraz para cambiarse. Si los niños deciden usar su disfraz durante el día, le pedimos que guarde los "accesorios" en sus mochilas para que lo use solo por la tarde en el desfile y la Feria de Diversión. Los accesorios incluyen artículos tales como dientes falsos, máscaras de cualquier tipo, guantes, etc. Queremos minimizar la distracción para que ellos puedan aprende al maximo en el transcurso del dia. Además, le pediríamos a los padres que se aseguren de que si algún tipo de arma es parte del traje de su hijo, lo guarde para cualquier truco fuera del colegio o actividadestales como “ Trucos o Dulces” , no permita que su hijo lo traiga a la escuela. Si tiene alguna pregunta, no dude en comunicarse con la maestra de su hijo o la Sra. Lantz en la oficinaParent ConferencesThank you to all those who have signed up for your 20 minute parent-teacher conference on Monday, October 30th! If you have not, please use this link to write your name next to the time slot you would like to conference. Remember, this is a half day of classes for students. Students will leave at 11:50, and conferences will take place between 12:30 and 5 pm. We have a lot of families to pack into that time frame, so please be on time for your conference!MathThe fifth graders have been working hard on long division with 1- and 2-digit divisors. We’ve learned different methods for dividing- ask your 5th grader which is their favorite! We’ve also talked about the importance of slowing down and paying attention to each step. Some of the 5th graders have realized they don’t have their multiplication and division facts memorized yet, and this is making more complicated problems difficult. Strategies for reviewing math facts include: making flashcards, having a family member or friend quiz you, using an online program such as Quizlet, etc. It sounds like a lot of you are already helping out with this at home - thank you for all you do to support learning outside of school!ELAWe’re starting our narrative writing unit, and we had a lot of fun this week making a “Dead Word Graveyard” comprised of boring, overused words. Students learned how to use a thesaurus to look up synonyms for boring words and made a graveyard full of more descriptive options to use in our writing. Ask your 5th grader what word he or she chose to “kill off”!ScienceWe had so much fun in science this week acting out the path of the sun, moon, and earth in the night sky in order to understand the earth’s orbit and rotation! Thank you for lending your flashlights to us for the day. See the class website for photos of the kids in action!

Important DatesYou can always see upcoming assignments, presentations, Free Dress days, etc. on the calendar on the top of our class website http://www.issosua.com/grade-5.html.Here are a few to note:

Wednesday, October 18th - No reinforcements after school (teacher meeting)

Thursday, October 26th - Field trip to the Brave Soles workshop in Puerto Plata

Friday, October 27th - End of Quarter 1 - report cards go home

Monday, October 30th - Parent Conferences (sign up here!), half day of classes

Monday, November 6th - School Holiday - no classes

Parent ConferencesThank you to all those who have signed up for your 20 minute parent-teacher conference on Monday, October 30th! If you have not, please use this link to write your name next to the time slot you would like to conference. Remember, this is a half day of classes for students. Students will leave at 1, and conferences will take place between 1 and 5 pm. We have a lot of families to pack into that time frame, so please be on time for your conference!

Field Trip - Thursday, October 26thTo support our study of ways people protect the earth’s resources, we will be going to visit the Brave Soles workshop in Puerto Plata. This will include a stop at the dump to see where the tires come from and discuss why they pose and environmental and health threat. Then we will head to the workshop to meet the Brave Soles team and learn about the process of making the shoes and accessories. Finally, we will go to the Malecon to eat lunch and debrief about more ways we can protect resources in our community. This will be an all day field trip, and students are asked to wear their white ISS polo shirt that day. They are also asked to not bring electronics, in order to be fully present during the trip. Thank you so much to the parents who have volunteered to drive on that day! Everyone - please look for field trip permission slips that need to be signed next week.

MathThis week we studied different methods for multiplying decimals, including using disks on a place value chart, making an area model, and using the standard algorithm. This is a complicated skill, but I am so proud of the 5th graders for persisting and making progress. Next week we will be studying long division, another complicated skill that takes time and effort to fully master. This week in our Morning Meetings we talked about the power of “yet” - remembering that if we haven’t fully mastered a skill, it’s not that we don’t get it. It’s that we don’t quite get it YET. Remind your 5th grader of this idea at home if you sense they are getting frustrated with some of the tougher math concepts, or anything else that may be a challenge. We’ve also talked a lot about how challenges and mistakes are what grow our brains!

ELAThis week we finished reading our class novel, Wonder! We have been discussing the themes of the novel: friendship, family, accepting differences, kindness, inclusion, etc. and looking for details from the story that demonstrate those themes. Next, we will be using this story as a model for our own narrative writing.

ScienceWe had so much fun this week combining geography, math, and science skills in order to determine how much of the earth’s water is usable. Ask your 5th grader what we found out! You can see a photo of our final graph below. Next week we will be studying the earth’s rotation around the sun and the patterns it causes in the day and night. Students are asked to bring a flashlight on Thursday for a simulation activity - any simple household flashlight will do, and they will be able to bring it home the same day.

Social StudiesThis week we combined our knowledge of culture with research and technology skills in order to start working on a culture mobile project. Each student chose a culture to study and research, and will be representing the elements of their chosen culture on a hanging mobile. The bulk of the work is being done in class, but some students have asked for additional time to research at home. This is optional, but allowed. Next week they will practice their speaking and listening skills by presenting their final projects. We will also be discussing the difference between surface culture and deep culture, and why it is important to be aware of both our own and other cultures. You may want to share more about your own culture with your 5th grader to help them make connections!

Student Blogger: Bianny!This week we are learning how to multiply decimals. In social studies we started doing a project on different cultures. In ELA we are able to determine the theme of a story. In science we figured out how much salt water, frozen water, and fresh water in the world.